2013–2018: Early work and debut studio album Savior first achieved public attention in September 2012 at age 17 after rock singer-songwriter
Courtney Love publicly complimented her after viewing a cover of
Angus & Julia Stone's "
Big Jet Plane" that Savior had uploaded on
YouTube. "She’s going to be huge," Love declared. "I am not ever wrong when it comes to spotting talent." "She called me up," Savior recalled. "We had a
land line at my house, and the phone was shaped like a big tomato. So she would call me on the tomato phone, and I would sit in the kitchen and we would talk and talk. She gave me good advice. She told me not to let anybody turn me into a puppet." By April 2013, Savior had done some modeling for
Erin Fetherston and said she hoped her first album would be out soon. She graduated from high school in June 2013 The album initially had the
working title Strange Portrait, but was retitled
Belladonna of Sadness after the 1973
Japanese anime of the same name. but Turner advised her to change her name and use her middle name as the last. "
Miracle Aligner", a song written by Savior and Turner during the recording sessions, though cut from the album, was re-recorded by Turner's band the Last Shadow Puppets
Belladonna of Sadness was mostly completed by June 2015, Savior subsequently released a series of singles from the album, beginning with "Shades" on June 17, 2016, followed by "
M.T.M.E." on September 8, 2016. Reviewing "M.T.M.E.", the British newspaper
NME wrote: "The striking and smoky vocals belong solely to Savior and ooze a burgeoning star power well beyond her tender age of 21." A third single, "
Mystery Girl" was released on November 21, 2016, alongside an announcement of the album's upcoming release. Savior was also featured as a guest vocalist on the song "Providence Sky" by
Brooklyn-based music project
Dark Tea, released in December 2016. "Mirage", the fourth and final promotional single for Savior's forthcoming album, was released on February 3, 2017. Paintings by Savior were used for the covers of some of the single releases, and was named one of the 30 best albums of the year by
The Independent. Shortly after the album's release, Savior appeared on
Lea Michele's 2017 album
Places as co-writer of the track "Sentimental Memories".
2019–present: Label transitions After the release of
Belladonna of Sadness, Savior submitted demos to Columbia for her second album, but the label rejected them before dropping her after her manager quit. Savior said this was a difficult time for her as she felt Columbia's termination of her record contract marked a significant failure, and possibly the end of her career. Savior left Los Angeles and returned to Portland to live with her mother.
James Mercer of Broken Bells and
The Shins subsequently requested Savior's demos, and she was soon signed to Danger Mouse's independent label, 30th Century Records. She began recording new material with producer
Sam Cohen in New York City in November 2019. In June 2019, two years after releasing
Belladonna of Sadness, Savior returned with the lead single from her second studio album,
The Archer, titled "Crying All the Time". It was released on June 14, 2019. The song was made available on music streaming platforms through 30th Century Records. Following the release of three additional singles,
The Archer, was released by 30th Century Records on January 10, 2020. A limited run of
vinyl LP versions of the album were independently produced and made available for sale on Savior's official website. The album was well-received by critics, earning an 84% approval rating on
review aggregator Metacritic based on 4 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim". In a 2021 interview, Savior revealed she had been working on composing a third album, and was in the process of writing guitar-based songs. She reflected on her career thus far: Savior's third studio album,
Beneath the Lilypad, was released by RCA Records on May 16, 2025. ==Influences==